MLS Columbus Crew SC

Two-game week away from home begins with tonight's qualifier

June 10, 2008 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew will experience another busy week as it again competes in mid-week U.S. Open Cup qualifying on Tuesday (June 10), before traveling for an MLS league match on Saturday (June 14). The week of matches begins tonight when the Crew travels to Peoria, Ill. to take on the Chicago Fire at 8 p.m. (ET) at Shea Stadium on the campus of Bradley University. The club will then return to Columbus briefly before departing for Kansas City, where it will take on the Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark Saturday at 8 p.m. (ET).

The Crew will be attempting to advance in the 2008 U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 tonight and MLS Match Tracker will be available at TheCrew.com. A live video stream will also be available at www.BradleyBraves.com for $5.95. Jeremiah Ingram, Missouri Valley Conference Assistant Commissioner for Communications, will provide the play-by-play call of the game. (Registration info here: https://www.nmnathletics.com//flexReg/doReg.dbml?SPSID=25970&SPID=1513&DB_OEM_ID=3400&DB_ACCOUNT_TYPE=USER)

Due to schedule congestion, U.S. Open Cup Qualifying was adjusted prior to last season, marking the first time since 2002 - when the Crew won the tournament - that all eligible MLS teams did not participate in the U.S. Open Cup tournament proper, although each team still has the opportunity to qualify for the tournament. Dating back to 1914, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual tournament is in its 94th year.

The Black & Gold then returns to league action Saturday, when it will take on the Kansas City Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The match features a Crew squad (6-4-1, 19, pts.) that is tied for second in the Eastern Conference against a 3-4-3 Wizards squad (12 pts.) that has spent its last six games on the road. Saturday's match will be the Wizards' first at home since April 12. Kansas City welcomes the Crew to town after notching a scoreless draw at Real Salt Lake last Saturday (June 7) in the final game of the six-game road trip.

Saturday's match kicks off at 8 p.m. and can be heard in English on News/Talk 610 WTVN with Neil Sika behind the microphone and on-line at theCrew.com and MLSNet.com, as well as in Spanish on La Que Buena 1550-AM. Local television details will be released at a later date.

The Crew is coming off a 2-0 setback to San Jose at Crew Stadium Saturday (June 7). Ryan Johnson headed home a Ronnie O'Brien cross in the first half and Ramiro Corrales headed home an O'Brien free kick sent in from the corner after the break to give the ‘Quakes just their third victory ever in Columbus in 14 trips. The Crew's started the game without one of it's regular central defenders, Danny O'Rourke, who was serving a one-game, red-card suspension, then lost both his regular partner, Chad Marshall, and replacement, Ezra Hendrickson, to first-half injuries. Brad Evans received a red card in the second half of last weekend's match and will miss this Saturday's match at Kansas City with a mandatory one-game suspension.

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